Closing the borders was the right thing to do but …

Closing the borders was the right thing to do but now is the time to open the borders to SA and WA, provided they keep their borders to the east closed, which they are doing.
NOW is the the time to announce it so people can make their travel plans.

Recent Comments by Ian Shepherd

Making going solar so much harderI’m no fan of the current government but I approve of their common sense move to curtail our reliance on an intermittent power source with a dubious life span and a proven susceptibility to passing clouds.
The problem is that the investment in fossil fuel generation must be made regardless of how many solar panels we have, to cover for cloud cover and nights.

Could this be the end of the CLP Opposition?The result last weekend was a disaster for the CLP but worse, their petulance with preferences likely enabled Gunner’s Labor Party to keep the seat. It was a long awaited opportunity to take the seat from Labor that may not be repeated for years.
Many voters moved away from Labor but they showed that they were not ready to trust the CLP again.
Given the CLP clearly cannot win Government in their own right in August the best they can hope for is to share government with Terry Mills and Territory Alliance (TA).
That can’t happen if they repeat the disgrace of supporting the Gunner Government ahead of TA. Even though TA put the Greens and others ahead of the CLP, they put Labor below the CLP.
The CLP must realise that if they continue to support the Gunner Government ahead of TA they will keep the conservatives in opposition, and if Saturday’s results are any guide, the CLP will be the minority party behind Territory Alliance whatever happens.
[By the way] the Alice Springs News wrote: “Terry Mills, as Leader of the Opposition” – a position he first held back in 2008 for the CLP.
In fact “On 14 November 2003, he [Terry Mills] replaced Denis Burke as Leader of the Opposition … He resigned on 4 February 2005” from Wikipedia.

Youth crime operation not enough, curfew needed: LambleyI think if done in consultation with the families of the children a curfew could work.
A lot of families are exasperated trying to keep their kids from going off to town to wander around, and would welcome assistance.
The obvious issue to resolve is what to do with kids caught. I’d suggest a first time in 30 days gets dropped off with family if it’s safe to do so, with a grade up to being kept in a secure facility for a night or two.
A curfew on its own won’t stop crime, particularly with instances happening in broad daylight.
The penalties for criminal offending, particularly repeat offending, need to return to a level that deters, restores, and equips youths so they offend less, much less.
We need someone like John Elferink back in the system.

Discussions are nice but actions are neededEarlier this year the American Meteorological Society published a paper by Nic Lewis and Judith Curry titled “The Impact of Recent Forcing and Ocean Heat Uptake Data on Estimates of Climate Sensitivity.”
The following summary of their paper is from Dr Roy Spencer, “Basically, the paper concludes that the amount of surface and deep-ocean warming that has occurred since the mid- to late-1800s is consistent with low equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) to an assumed doubling of atmospheric CO2. They get a median estimate of 1.66 deg. C (1.50 deg. [ ], which is only about half of the average of the IPCC climate models. It is just within the oft-quoted range of 1.5 to 4.5 deg. C that the IPCC has high confidence ECS should occupy.
Wikipedia lists just over 80 scientists (who have had articles published in peer reviewed journals) who disagree with the IPCC consensus view.
The science is far from settled and we should not be interfering with our reliable power production, both with our own efficient gas turbines or with coal powered stations around Australia, except to build new, more efficient coal fired power stations.
The Paris Agreement was never going to reduce CO2 emissions to any level that would impact on world temperatures, despite imposing a heavy cost burden on developed economies like our own. Since Trump did the smart thing and abandoned the agreement there will never be the promised billions for developing countries, including the Pacific Island nations. Sadly for them they will not be receiving the cash, but fortunately as shown by the Curry and Lewis Paper, the climate is not warming at the rate predicted by the IPCC and in any case the Pacific Islands are growing more than they are sinking.
The good news is that we can ignore catastrophic narratives like the one peddled by Repower Alice Springs. Hopefully no action is taken to “Depower” Alice Springs.

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